The $45 million Netflix movie is a film adaptation of “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” that was written by J.D. Vance about growing up in Middletown and in Jackson, Ky. The memoir was a bestseller released in 2016.
“Hillbilly Elegy” will feature several major film stars including Amy Adams, Glenn Close and Gabriel Basso.
Kristi Leigh, part of the Mix 107.7 Morning Show, said her son had posted a Craigslist garage sale ad to get rid of the furnishings and other contents of her parent’s home in Clayton. She said her mother died in 2017 and her father died in April. Her son Kellan, 17, received a call from the movie’s property manager who wanted to see what they had and bought her grandfather’s old recliner that was in the basement.
Her son said that the property manager looked around the house asked how much for everything.
MORE: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ movie gains momentum, and Middletown seeks to take advantage
“She came back this morning (Wednesday, July 31) and went room to room marking things for various scenes in the movie,” Kristi Leigh said.
Kristi Leigh, who grew up in Clayton, said items purchased included furniture, cane poles, clothes, quilts, over the counter medicine bottles, and yard furniture. Other items that were purchased were an old pickup truck cap and old tools junk that would be seen in an alley
The property manager eventually spent about $900 for the items and had a truck come to pick everything up to take to Middletown.
“The stuff will be peppered in the movie,” Kristi Leigh said. “Most movie companies donate the things they buy to the Salvation Army, Goodwill or woman’s shelters.
She said there were some things that she didn’t want to part with but said the items “will be immortalized on film.”
“It’s so cool,” Kristie Leigh said. “I’m really excited.”
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